SRH skipper David Warner (centre) and Wriddhiman Saha runs between the wicket on Tuesday.
David Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad have put themselves back in the IPL 2020 title race with a big win over tournament favourites Mumbai Indians in a commanding 10-wicket win in Sharjah on Tuesday.
The win also culminated the league stages of the IPL 2020, placing SRH third in the table ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore, while knocking out Kolkata Knight Riders off the play-off spot on the basis of superior net run rate.
The star of the game turned out to be skipper David Warner (85* off 58), who first made the right call off bowling first after winning toss, and made it count by chasing off a 150 target in the second innings with his opening partner Wriddhiman Saha (58 off 45) in just 18 overs as dew factor severely crippled Mumbai Indians bowler.
Defending the paltry total, table-toppers MI pacers were never up for the task with their two highest wicket-takers Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult rested ahead of Qualifier 1 match against second-placed Delhi Capitals. MI did have their skipper Rohit Sharma back in the line-up but it proved to be not enough.
It reflected in the powerplays, as their replacement Nathan Coulter-Nile and Dhawal Kulkarni had no clue on how to stop Warner and Wriddhiman from scoring. 56 runs came off the first six overs itself. With eight fours and a six in the first 10 overs, the duo put 87 runs on the board, taking the match close to a run-a-ball situation.
Warner was first to complete his half-century in the 12th over with a six over the cow corner while Wriddhiman Saha took single to celebrates his half a ton in the same over.
The duo carried on their bat to complete the job in the 18th over.
Earlier, SRH restricted Mumbai Indians to 149/8 wickets in 20 overs. Kieron Pollard's late charge gave the table-toppers MI a boost after Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma and Shahbaz Nadeem stifled them for runs in the middle overs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
MI scored 51 runs in the last five overs, most of them courtesy Pollard who scored 41 in 25 balls. He hit two fours and four sixes in his innings before falling to his West Indies teammate Jason Holder.
Holder put up yet another influential performance with the ball for SRH in the middle overs, dismissing Nathan Coulter-Nile as well and conceding just 25 runs in his four overs.
MI captain Rohit Sharma's comeback didn't last long at the crease. He faced seven balls and scored just four runs before falling to pacer Sandeep. The bowler went on to dismiss Sharma's opening partner Quinton de Kock and the in-form Ishan Kishan.
In the last match of the group stage, SRH need to win to secure a spot in the playoffs.
